Blah blah

Reading List

Friday 15 March 2013

A list of the most interesting things I’ve read this week, as not everyone sees me post them on twitter all day. It should go without saying (but I’m saying it anyway) that I don’t endorse or agree with everything here. Stuff in quote marks, by definition, is quotation and therefore not me.

Me, me, me

NEWT, HTML5 etc

We’re not ‘appy. Not ‘appy at all. – UK government: “Our position is that native apps are rarely justified … Departments should focus on improving the quality of the core web service … When it comes to mobile, we’re backing open web standards (HTML5). We’re confident that for government services, the mobile web is a winner, both from a user and a cost perspective.”

Google called the MPEG-LA’s bluff, and won – “Google received a license for techniques in VP8 that may infringe upon MPEG-LA patents … VP8 is a hell of lot safer and more free from possible legal repercussions than H.264 itself”

Payments Task Force W3C: “The Open Web Platform does not yet offer standard ways to transfer money, demonstrate proof-of-purchase, and meet other payment needs. Without a standard, developers are forced to turn to native platforms, or use solutions that work for one service provider but not another.”

Industry

Facebook users unwittingly revealing intimate secrets, study finds – “Researchers were able to accurately infer a Facebook user’s race, IQ, sexuality, substance use, personality or political views using only a record of the subjects and items they had “liked” on Facebook – even if users had chosen not to reveal that information.”

I work for Opera, but all opinions contained herein are mine (and are thus incontrovertibly
correct) and do not represent the opinions of my employers. (Comments are copyright their authors, not written by me, and
are therefore probably the ramblings of mad people.)